Dining with the sultan: the fine art of feasting

Abstract

"This catalog represents the first occasion that the burgeoning knowledge of food culture in this period has been employed to inform our understanding of Islamic art. Dining with the Sultan offers a pan-Islamic reach, spanning the 8th through 19th centuries and including some 200 works of art representing a rich variety of mediums. Across its 400 pages, and through an abundance of color plates and new scholarship, the publication introduces audiences to Islamic art and culture with objects of undisputed quality and appeal. Viewed through the universal lens of fine dining, this transformative selection of materials emphasizes our shared humanity rather than our singular histories."-- Provided by one of the publishers.

Contents

Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Starters -- Reflections on the Fine Art of Feasting in Islamic Lands / Linda Komaroff -- Gourmet Pleasures : Gastronomic Cultures in Islamic Lands in the Middle Ages / Daniel Newman -- Banqueting in Late Antique Iran / Touraj Daryaee -- Recipe for Badhinjan Mahshi (Eggplant Dressed in Sauce) by Ibn Al-Mahdi, D. 839 -- First Course -- A Canvas of Cuisines / Charles Perry -- Abbasid Tableware and Changing Food Culture / Jessica Hallett -- Food, Medicine, and Health in Medieval Islam / Joseph Leonardo Vignone -- Umayyad Damascus, Abbasid Baghdad, and Mamluk, Cairo : Dining for Pleasure, Eating for Health / Paulina B. Lewicka -- Dining in a Damascus Room / Helen Pfeifer -- Recipe for Ma'Himmas (Broth of Chickpeas) by Al-Ma'Mun, D. 833 -- Second Course -- Extract from Bushaq's Diwan-I-At'Ima (Book of Edibles) / Wheeler M. Thackston -- The Debate Between Wine and Beer / Shadi Shafiei -- Chinese Porcelain and the Fine Art of Feasting in Fifteenth- to Sixteenth-Century Iran / Linda Komaroff -- Setting the Chinese Table / Zoe S. Kwok -- Material Culture and Elite Dining in Renaissance Italy / Deborah L. Krohn -- Recipe for Zereshk Palaw Ba Gusht (Rice and Lamb with Barberries) by Nurullah, 1594 -- Third Course -- Music at the Feasts : Entertainment abd Courtly Dining in Islamic Lands / Amir Hosein Pourjavady -- On Poetry, Salt, and Gardens : Reflections on a Mughal Saltcellar / Katherine E. Kasdorf -- Convivial Politics : An Overview of Feasting at the Mughal Court / Neha Vermani -- The Ni'Matnama (Book of Delights) : A Fifteenth-Century Recipe Book from the Sultanate of Malwa / Ursula Sims-Williams -- Recipe for Halva-Yi Zardak (Carrot Pudding with Dried Fruits), Traditional -- Fourth Course -- Porcelain, Silver, Gold, and Rock Crystal : Luxury Dishes of the Ottoman Elite in Archival Documents / Hedda Reindl-Kiel -- Seyyid Lokman on Ottoman Feasts for Foreign Embassies / Sinem Arcak Casale -- The Sultan's Sufra : Imperial Dining at the Topkapi Palace / Ömür Tufan -- Feasting in the Sultan's Tent : The Power and Pleasure of Textiles at the Ottoman Court / Ashley Dimmig -- Ottoman and Safavid Coffee Cultures / Farshid Emami -- Recipe for Tawuk Bureghi (Chicken-Filled Pastry) by Turabi Efendi, 1865 -- Fifth Course -- From Street Food to National Cuisine : Cooking and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Iran / Khodadad Rezakhani -- Qajar Still-Life Painting / Maryam Ekhtiar -- Recipe for Khagina (Sweet Omelet) by 'Ali Akbar Khan Ashpazbashi Kashani, 1884 -- Catalogue -- Bibliography -- Lenders to the Exhibition -- Contributors -- Index -- Photo Credits.